EXCLUSIVE: I'm proud to be former Wimbledon, not MK Dons, says QPR's Mackie

Ask Jamie Mackie if he considers himself a former Wimbledon or MK Dons player, and you’ll get an unequivocal response.

'I'd always say I was a former Wimbledon player,' said the Queens Park Rangers forward. 'I just don’t feel as emotionally attached to the MK Dons. Wimbledon was my first club.

'I made my debut in the league for the club, even though, strangely, it was playing in Milton Keynes.

Top Don: Jamie Mackie considers himself a former Wimbledon, not MK, player

'But the badge said Wimbledon. We were Wimbledon, we had Wimbledon’s history — we just weren’t playing there.'

Mackie is part of a small band of footballers to have played for Wimbledon and MK Dons. Having emerged through the youth ranks at Wimbledon, Mackie made his first-team debut in December 2003.

But the famous Crazy Gang spirit was no more. Wimbledon had already moved to the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes — and just eight months later he was lining up for MK Dons in a 1-0 defeat by Doncaster.

'I was at Wimbledon as a youngster, I understand the turmoil the supporters have gone through,' said the Scotland forward. 'Some Wimbledon fans say losing the club was like losing a loved one. I don’t think that is taking it too far.

'That’s what is amazing about football, the passion runs so deep. It’s like dating a girl and then breaking up with her. I can totally understand it.'

But, while Wimbledon’s break-up meant heartbreak for the club’s fans, Mackie is not ashamed to admit he benefited from the move.

'I know that era will hold bad memories for Wimbledon fans but for me it was a time to remember because I made my breakthrough into the first team,' he said.

New dawn: Wimbledon's league place was taken by the newly-formed MK Dons in 2004

Phoenix from the flames: AFC Wimbledon have risen through non-league football to League Two

'I was getting a game when maybe I might not have if the club were still as strong as they once were but, I have to admit, it was strange playing for Wimbledon in Milton Keynes. One day we were told we were going to Milton Keynes and that was it.

'Of course, it was a bit weird to start with but we were employed by the club. The players didn’t even have a choice.

'Ideally, we wanted it to stay as Wimbledon and keep playing in London. But we, the players, had bills to pay, mortgages and families to feed.

'We were all under contract and, if we didn’t play then, we might not have had a job. We had to work.'

Once Mackie walks off the pitch against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon, his thoughts will turn to Sunday’s FA Cup clash at stadium:mk, when MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon, the reincarnation of Wimbledon, will go head-to-head for the first time.

Up for the cup: Wimbledon face MK Dons for the first time on Sunday in the FA Cup

The 27-year-old said: 'This match was always inevitable. It was always going to take place, be it in the league or a cup. I know a lot of AFC fans never wanted to see this match take place and I can sort of understand their point.

'It would be great if this match could be the beginning of the end of the rivalry but I don’t think that will be the case. You will never change that, it will be very hard to draw a line under it because of the history.

'But, for me, both sets of fans should be proud of their clubs for their own achievements.

'I see the clubs as completely different entities. I see AFC Wimbledon as the new Wimbledon and MK Dons as MK Dons.

'I don’t attach the old Wimbledon to MK Dons, the badges tell you that and that’s how it should be.

'But at the same time, I don’t think people should hold that much against MK Dons as a club and people should appreciate what they have achieved.

'The chairman is fantastic and an ambitious man. At the end of the day, Wimbledon were going out of business and if he didn’t do it then someone else would have tried. A lot of credit has to go to him because the club were on their knees.'

A large section of south-west London will not see it that way. Particularly at 12.30pm on Sunday.